Loads of thanks to Miyra, as this is one of my earliest RPs with Maud!
Previously titled "Kidnaps and Medallions".
The first few kidnap attempts hadn't worked out so well for Maud. So far she'd managed to get a dwarf and a teenager who couldn't even throw a punch- definitely not people Maud wanted to teach her to read. It could also have been the fact that the dwarf refused and the boy ran away as soon as she untied him. Perhaps she'd been setting the wrong kinds of traps?
How do you capture a reader?
Books came from paper, that came from wood, that came from trees, and Maud knew that much. So why weren't her trails of twigs and leaves and pinecones working? Was she doing something wrong? The little girl had spent a few days pondering these questions until she heard some joking remark from her siblings about how smart women are.
Of course! How hadn't she realized this sooner? Everyone knew that women took care of everything! Which meant she needed a woman to teach her to read!
So this is where Maud found herself one day, kneeling behind a crate with a large sack ready in her hands. It was on the road uphill to the Pony, behind one of the walls by the gates. Or bridges. Whatever the silly Bree-landers called them. But Bree-landers weren't silly today, because Maud was going to catch one! She had her eyes on the road, but mostly on the strange trail starting from the middle of it and leading to the small clearing behind the wall.
It consisted of flowers, badly ripped out pieces of fabrics from some of her old clothes, and threads and sewing needles she'd stolen from Ysopa. She'd also thrown a few twigs in there for extra measure.
Soon enough, a woman approached, limping ever so slowly along the street, her cane rapping against the stones. Her other leg didn't seem to be strong enough to carry her weight and she relied strongly on the wooden stick that supported her. Due to her slow pace she noticed easily the strange trail and followed it, like a bird tilting her head from side to side, her awfully tangled bush of a hair, swaying from one side to another while she did so.
Maud's eyes went wide when she noticed the woman following the trail, murmuring a 'yes' under her breath. The cane or the leg didn't matter- watched the woman carefully until she is directly in front of the crate. She could easily take her out... and so Maud let out a loud shriek and jumped right over the crate, holding the sack high above her head as if it were a flag! She didn't use it yet, but instead crashing her body into the woman's first, throwing her off balance! The woman fell on her side to the grass, with a grunt and a high pitched scream.
Grinning madly at the outcome of her attack, Maud sat herself right on top of the young woman, and attempted to throw the sack over her head! But the woman wasn't done yet. She raised her arm to defend her head and swung her cane a few times into the child's side. Maud wasn't prepared in any way for this! She let go of the sack, aiming to drop it on the woman's head, but was shoved to the side by the cane! She fell backwards and her back hit the wall, and is too surprised to counterattack so she sat there and stared at the woman with wide eyes. She was going to kill Maud for trying to kidnap here, she definitely was.
The woman gripped the sack and tossed it far to the side, before raising herself to sit as well. She stared at the child wide-eyed in return, her dark eyes gleaming wildly midst her bushy hair, her dry chapped lips forming an irritated thin line. Suddenly she tilted her head in a bird like fashion, her eyes studying the girl's features. Her expression softened slightly. She spoke, "You're a clever one, aren't you. But not clever enough." And she attempted to ever so gently tap the child's forehead with her cane.
Maud simply stared silently for a few moments, her expression a mixture of admiration and fear. "I could be clevererer!" she finally said. "This was only me first try at capturin' a woman. Didn' know they coul' fight so well..." Especially women with canes. She pushed it away grumpily and gave the woman a glare. Maud realized that she had underestimated the womanly gender of Bree-town. She needed a better trap. A better strategy. So she crawled to the start of the trail in the middle of the clearing and started picking everything up in her arms.
The woman climbed on her feet clumsily with some effort, due to having only one fully functioning leg. Eventually when she got on her feet, she breathed exhaustedly, her eyes still studying the child. The woman herself would be covered in all sorts of strange trinkets, necklaces and wristlets, so perhaps it wouldn't be a surprise when she said, "You shouldn't waste such good items in such a way." She limped closer, ever so slowly. The small woman's presence was odd, but unthreatening. "Could you show me some of those?" She gestured for Maud to come closer.
Maud ignored the woman at first, concentrating on filling her arms with the twigs and fabrics and flowers. Once she started picking up more, the ones she'd been already carrying started falling out, so she had to keep going in circles to pick up the others up. She paused at the woman's questions, eyeing her up and holding out a few of the items, not coming any closer yet.
The woman frowned at the flowers, and then gestured at the strips of fabric. The woman's clothes seemed like they were torn and patched, and then torn and patched again. So perhaps it wouldn't be a surprise either when she said, "Those cloths'd make nice patches." She pulled a medallion out of her pocket and released it so that it hanged from her fingers, the metal on it glimmering in the dim light. She would be offering it to the child, probably for the pieces of cloth.
Maud let out a small gasp at the sight of the medallion- she slowly inched forward and held out her hands to touch it, dropping everything she has in her arms as she did so. It was so pretty! "Fer me?" she squeaked lightly, not getting the hint that it is in exchange for the cloth.
When the girl advanced, however, the woman lifted the medallion high in the air, even though the short woman wouldn't probably be much taller than the young girl. She gestured at the fabrics with her cane, "For those, little girl. For those. Nothing comes for free in this world." She smiled faintly, her dark eyes fixated on those of the child.
Maud glanced to the fabrics with surprise, and rushes back to pick (most of) them up. She then narrowed her eyes at the woman, eyeing her up and down again before finally replying, "I coul' take i' fer a smile... every'un loves a smilin' kid." The woman raised her brow at that, smiling amusedly, appearing as if the child would've been jesting. She rolled her eyes, "One can not even see a smile from behind all that mud." She outstretched her hand, beckoning with her fingers for Maud to hand the fabrics over, while she held the medallion out to her in her other hand.
Maud frowned at her, obviously annoyed by such an insult! How dared she! At least she tried to keep her face clean! She dropped about half of the items in her arms again, so she could raise her sleeve to wipe her muddy face. But this had no effect, as her sleeves were equally dirty and this only made her face muddier! Still, Maud didn't notice so she gave the woman a big pretty smile! The woman rolled her eyes again, and gently batted the side of the child's leg with her cane, although perhaps it would sting a bit still. "Don't be silly. Hand me those fabrics and accept my payment. I'm being more than generous here." She kept offering the medallion to the child.
Jumping as she was batted with the cane, Maud flailed her arms about, and dropped everything again! She attempted to kick the cane away, but then huffed. Picking up a small piece of blue fabric, she slowly approached the woman and held it out to her.
The woman took the fabric and tossed the medallion at the child in a half hearted fashion. She then turned around and limped away, with a strange smile on her face.
